


4am Knows All of My Secrets

by storiebook



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bisexual Archie Andrews, Jarchie - Freeform, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 20:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10048700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiebook/pseuds/storiebook
Summary: The one where Archie always calls Jughead in the middle of the night





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've done it again  
> This one was also written in about two hours and is unedited as well  
> Hope you enjoy :D

It started when they were fourteen. One night in early August, right before school started back up. Archie called from the land line, whispering into the receiver in a hushed voice. Jughead almost didn’t answer it because of the late hour, but he saw Archie’s name light up the screen and he couldn’t resist.

“Archie?” Jug answered in a low voice, careful not to let his dad hear. “Why aren’t you on your cell?”

“Grounded.” There a was a long pause, Jughead listened quietly to Archie’s breathing, there was something off about it. “Jug, can you come over?” He could hear a tremble in Archie’s voice that he had rarely ever heard before.

“Yeah, I can come after school tomorrow. Archie, wha—“

“No, like now. Can you come over right now?” Jug could practically see Archie sitting in the hallway next to his room, crowded next to the phone that hung on the wall and glancing at his dads room every now and then to make sure he didn’t catch him. 

“It’s four in the morning, Arch, what’s going on?”

“I just— Can you come?” He could picture Archie running his hand up his face and into his hair, trying to keep the tears back. “Please.”

“I’m on my way.”

Jughead didn’t think twice that night. He never got Archie to explain what he needed him for that night, but he knew it was important he be there. 

For the next year and a half, this would happen every month or so. Archie would call Jughead in the middle of the night and Jughead would come running. They’d end up in Archie’s bed with their bodies entwined, Jughead holding Archie to him.

Except for the first time, whenever Archie called it wasn’t because he was upset. He just seemed to want company; Jughead’s company specifically. 

Jughead would look forward to those nights, sometimes he’d wait up hoping for a call. He’d never call Archie first, though, not feeling like it was his place. He’d always wait for Archie to make the first move. Sometimes he wished that those nights happened more often, or that they lasted into the daytime as well… But the intimacy with Archie always ended once the morning came.

Near the end of their freshman year, with summer quickly approaching, Archie seemed to be calling Jughead every other night. There were a few times that Jughead thought that this was it, they’d finally last until morning, he’d finally be able to tell Archie how he feels about him, kiss him, hold him whenever he wanted. But whenever Jughead got his hopes up he ended up being let down.  
And then the summer came. Archie started acting strange. The nights by his side began to dwindle again and eventually they ceased to exist at all. Jughead tried to keep Archie by his side, even without their nights together he couldn’t let Archie go completely. 

The night after Archie bailed on their trip, Jughead cried. He curled up on his little cot in the office of the drive-in and he balled until dawn. It was really over now, him and Archie were not even friends anymore. He thought, even if he and Archie were never going to become anything more, that he’d at least keep him as friend. Archie was his best friend.

It took Jughead a while before he was okay without having Archie around. He eventually came to like it being just him. He had more time to think, more time to write. He was a lot more observant now, watching the goings-on of the town without any as much as glancing his direction. 

He was just starting to get used to it… And then Archie called him at half past five the morning after he ran into Archie at Pop’s when he had wandered in looking for Betty. 

He stared at the screen, reading Archie’s name over and over again. He didn’t answer on the first ring like he used to, or the second, or third… He wanted to just let it go to voicemail, but something in him—probably the part that was still in love with Archie—wouldn’t let him.

“What do you want, Archie?” His tone wasn’t kind, it was harsh and annoyed.

“Jug, I just—“ He heard Archie sigh on the other end of the line, once again he could picture him running his fingers roughly through his hair. “Can you come over?”

He wanted to. Oh god, how he wanted to. He wanted to curl up with Archie on his bed, lying silently beside each other for as long as they could before Mr. Andrews came looking for Archie. He wanted to climb through his bedroom window into a space that smelled completely like Archie and nothing else. But he couldn’t. Not after how Archie had hurt him.

It took a minute before Jughead worked up the courage to answer him. “No, Archie.” He said, trying to make his voice sound rough and stern. “I can’t.”

He could hear Archie on the other end, ready with some protest, but he hung up the phone before Archie could speak again. As much as he wished they could mend their relationship, he knew going over to Archie’s at half past five in the morning after months of not speaking except earlier that morning was not the way to begin. He hoped that this was the start of something, though. Maybe Archie was finally realizing what he had given up.

Archie had a way of crushing his hopes regarding their relationships. He never failed to do it. Jughead didn’t know why he thought this time would be different. But, when he stumbled across a scene in the music room that he wasn’t meant to see, his hopes were most definitely crushed.

A part of him wanted to leave it alone, to not get in the middle of anything. But he cared about Archie no matter how hard he tried not to and he knew what Ms. Grundy was doing. He couldn’t just let Archie keep up his relationship with a manipulative pedophile, he had to say something. 

At first, he regretted confronting Archie that night. Archie’s words had been harsh and hurtful, he could see the manipulation working in Archie’s mind. But, soon, he realized he had done the right thing and good things were coming of it. Of course, Archie continued his relationship with Grundy until they were found out by his dad. But Jughead had his best friend back, not at the level they had been before, but close enough that he could keep and eye on his and make sure he was out of harms way.

It wasn’t until a few nights after Grundy had disappeared from their lives forever that Jughead was woken up by a soft buzzing. He sat up and rifled through the backpack at his feet until he found his phone amongst the junk. Archie’s name flashed on the screen and he answered without a second thought.

“Arch?”

“Jug, I— I know that we’ve gone through a lot this past—“

“I’m coming.”

He knew it probably wasn’t the best idea. Archie was vulnerable after the events of the week. But Jughead missed him and he couldn’t let Archie spend the night alone.

He climbed up the drainpipe to the open window that was waiting for him. He felt like he was a fourteen year old kid again, climbing up to comfort his best friend just as he had that first night. 

Archie was already curled up in his bed, the blankets pulled tightly around him. Jughead dropped his bag at the foot of the bed and kicked off his boots. The sound caused Archie to turn over in bed to face him. He smiled sympathetically as the redheaded boy as he tugged the covers back and climbed in next to him. 

“Jughead,” Archie’s voice was barely audible around the covers. He sounded exhausted and half asleep. “I need to tell you something.”

Jughead reached a hand out and smoothed Archie’s bedhead. “It’s okay,” He reassured the boy next to him, Archie’s eyes already drooping. “We can talk in the morning.”

Jughead half expected Archie to forget their short exchange come morning, but he was proven wrong when he awoke to brown eyes staring back into his.

“I was falling in love with you.” Archie said, once he knew Jughead was coherent enough to process any words that came out of his mouth.

“What? Archie, when—“

“Before the summer, when I’d call you over a few times a week.” Archie replied softly, his eyes searching for any sign of rejection on Jughead’s face. “But I was afraid… Afraid of being in love with a guy, and being in love with my best friend.”

Jughead’s eyes softened and his facial expression dropped from the initial shock of Archie’s words into complete love for the boy in front of him. “Archie, I—“

“But I ended up losing you anyway and I’m really sorry for that. I’m sorry for everything, Jughead.”

“Archie, you don’t have to apologize.”

“Yes, I do.” Archie insisted. “What I did, I—“

Jughead cut him off by gently placing his lips on top of Archie’s. He found Archie’s hand under the covers and entwined their fingers. “No, you don’t.” Jughead said, when he broke off the kiss. 

Archie inched forward on the bed and pressed his forehead to Jughead’s. “I love you, Jug.”

Jughead couldn’t stop staring at him. Of all the things he thought Archie would want to talk to him about, this scenario never crossed his mind. He thought he should pinch himself just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. But he didn’t; because, he thought that even if this was a dream he wouldn’t want to wake up. “I love you too, Arch.”


End file.
